g. The FAQs about FAQs

Q: Why do we need an FAQ about FAQs?

A: As the community grows, we're discovering that many valuable pieces of information are getting buried on the site. To address this problem, we hope to use the FAQs module as a way of tying together the information that is scattered throughout the site.

Here's the important part: The "we" in the first paragraph is meant to include you. The community needs people who are interested in various topics to take responsibility for tracking the information on those topics. Interested in XML-RPC? Please start an FAQ on it. Does using OpenACS for knowledge management float your boat? Please start an FAQ.

To that end, this FAQ on FAQs is actually intended to help you start thinking about how to start and manage the FAQs you always wanted to have.

Q: There already is a FAQ on the topic that interests me but I think it is missing some important questions. What should I do?

A: In the future, we plan to have a "Suggest a FAQ" link at the bottom of each FAQ. You should be able to click on that link and enter the FAQ you want (and preferably an answer to the question as well, if you know it).

For the moment, though, you will have to email either jade@rubick.com, Jerry Asher or Michael Feldstein.

Q: I'm interested in a topic but can't find a FAQ for it.

A: Great! That means you can boldly go where no-one has gone before and create a new FAQ for your topic.

In order to do so, you should do the following:

1. Put together a list of the questions you think should be on the FAQ.
2. Search OpenACS.org for answers to your questions. Be sure to check discussion boards, file storage, and the wimpypoint presentations.
3. Start a thread on the main OpenACS discussion board. Let people know that you are putting an FAQ together. List all the questions you have thought of, all the answers you have found, and all the URLs of the resources you uncovered in your search of openacs.org. Also be sure to list those questions to which you have not found an answer. Ask for input.
4. Once you have gathered the community's wisdom from the discussion thread, write up your FAQ. Include questions, answers, and links to resources.
5. Email your document to Jerry Asher or Michael Feldstein.

Q: I want a new FAQ but I don't have the time to put one together myself. Can I ask you to do it for me?

A: Well, you can ask. This is a volunteer community, so things get done when somebody feels the urge to get up and do them.

You could try to do ask for help by posting a request to the discussion board and see if the community would help you generate the list of questions, answers and resources. However, you'll have a much better chance of getting what you want if you do your homework first.

Q: Once I start my FAQ, can/must I maintain it?

A: Again, this is a volunteer community, so there isn't anything that you must do. However, if you don't maintain it yourself, you take the risk that nobody else will take responsibility either.

Regarding the degree to which you can maintain your FAQ, at the moment we encourage you to do so but can only offer you an indirect way of doing it. We do not yet have a mechanism in place that allows us to give a person administrative control over an individual FAQ. We're working on it. In the meantime, you'd have to submit your changes to Jerry or Michael and have them update the FAQ for you.